**This event will now take place at the Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA

The world watched, horrified, as fire ravaged the ancient Notre-Dame Cathedral in April 2019. The very next day the President of France, Émmanuel Macron, vowed that the treasured building --- one of the symbols of the entire nation --- would be reopened in just five year’s time, following the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Many expressed doubt, given the gravity of the damage, that this was an achievable goal, or that the structure could even be saved at all.

The story of how that goal was met --- with glorious results --- is a chronicle of vision, organizational leadership, armies of skilled craftspeople, unprecedented public philanthropy, and a global will to rescue one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures.

Architectural historian (and Winchester resident) John McConnell will present an illustrated lecture on how this great story unfolded, and the world came to see the renewed cathedral as it hadn’t been seen in close to 800 years.

Registration is suggested to plan for seating and to be notified of any changes.

About our speaker:

John McConnell earned a B.A. degree in English at Michigan State University in 1970, followed by a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University in 1975. He has taught American Architectural history at Boston College since 1979. In addition, he has been a lecturer in architectural history at the Harvard Graduate School of Design since 1987, an architecture lecturer-in-residence for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and scores of other groups. He is much sought-after for his informative walking tours of Boston neighborhoods. 

John is a principal of McConnell+Partners Architects Inc in Boston. Founded in 1987, the firm specializes in residential and small-scale institutional and commercial design, as well as historically sensitive additions and renovation of older buildings. Prior to founding the firm, John worked for Boston architectural firms, chiefly Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, where he was the designer for several projects including the Fye
Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and a major renovation and organ installation at the historic Old South Church at Boston's Copley Square.

In addition to being a practicing architect, he has devoted himself to oil painting since 1990 (www.JohnMcConnellArtist.com), specializing in traditional landscape painting. He is currently represented by a number of art galleries in Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington DC. In addition to the above, John is the author of Courthouses of the Commonwealth: A History of Superior Courthouse Architecture in Massachusetts (UMass Press, 1984,) and contributor to Shingle Style Houses, Then and Now (Schiffer Press 2006, and Green Residences, Schiffer Press 2008.) Finally, he has been Chair of the Winchester Cultural Council, vice-president of the board of the Griffin Museum of Photography, a Director of the Winchester Historical Society and President of the Jumelage Association (with sister city Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in France) in Winchester, Massachusetts, where he resides.

Presented in partnership with the Lexington Field and Garden Club. This program is made possible by the generous donors to the Cary Library Foundation.